A few days after the meteor shower, the mysterious shards have been gathered up by the guards, rebels, and another mysterious faction. However, what to do with them next remains a mystery, as all known texts on their purpose are hopelessly vague. If such a text exists, we don't know where to find it.

Six years ago, an unimaginable horror known as Tirek came to Equestria. His power was nigh impossible, requiring the Elements, the Lovers and the Alicorns all to pour their very souls into holding him. In their absence, Prince Blueblood took the crown. But, Blueblood's reign is simply a mask for the Guard's dictatorship, while rebels cling to the idea of a free republic and strange cults tout the value of freedom from any governance. With all this, why would anypony spare a thought for the comet that filled the night sky for weeks before falling?

Weather: CloudySeason: SpringWho's in power right now? TraditionalistsMeteor Collected: 0%

Rich aubergine with carmine streaks, it is styled into a very orderly looking mohawk, with a single long forelock which tends to bounce slightly when he moves.

Tail:

Kept short and straight, and always very orderly, the bob of purple and scarlet matches his mane well, though it obviously lacks anything resembling real style.

Eyes:

A bright, pinkish magenta, with thick lashes that edge perilously close to feminine but don't quite cross over.

Cutie Mark:

A calling phoenix

Other:

Vio wears a small hoop earring at all times. Close study of the hoop will reveal that it is made of fine silver and engraved with almost comically small runes, and practically burns with magical energy. Without his earring, his body reverts to an "incorrect" state that he finds deeply upsetting.

Psychological Evaluation

Likes:

Sweets. Literally anything with sugar.Dragons, at least in terms of aesthetics. They are very attractive beings.Small, shiny things, such as marbles. He likes to toss them in the air to watch when thinking. Or bored. Or just because.Octopi, squids, snakes, worms and assorted squigglers.Bees. Do you know what bees do? They make honey. Sweet, delicious, divine honey. Bees are great.

Dislikes:

Large insects, particularly milipedes. It's like they're trying to be squigglers, but failing dramatically and disgustingly.Paperwork. How is it that fixing ponies' bodies requires that much paperwork?

Dreams:

To design a spell that will properly fix him rather than leaving him dependant on his earring.To start dating. At some point. Stallion's gotta have a love life, after all!

Fears:

Losing his earring, as getting a replacement would involve at least a year's wait, if it would even be possible in Blueblood's Equestria.

General Remarks:

Vio thpeaksh with a bit of a lithp. And by 'bit' we mean a thort of promient and troubleshome one.

IMPORTANT: Before you proceed, please know that this is a NON-CANON, INFORMATION-HEAVY, somewhat SANDBOXY game. It's a much more classically Perny game in practice than one might think from just reading our game information, but it is definitely NOT a game for people who just want to glance at the history to see what the local plot is and then toss in their characters. If you enjoy a detailed, comprehensive setting that is carefully thought out and has a LOT of variety and potential for characters and plots, and if you enjoy reading, this is a good game for you.

If just this little warning is TL;DR to you, on the other hand, then you may want to move on. XD Storm Nexus is a great game, but it is not for everyone. There is a LOT of information here. But I swear, it's less complex than it looks! I'm just terrible at being concise.;p -- The SN Admin

Currently seeking wher and dragon Candidates; adult dragonriders of all sorts; adult wherhandlers of all sorts but especially adult fighting and Healer whers; Weyrlings from past clutches (several are adoptable and have not yet been taken up; we have a clutch that is two months old ICly and a clutch that is six months old ICly.) Also raiders, holdless, traders and other assorted folk. As we are just gearing up again after a short hiatus, we are open to just about all character types right now! This INCLUDES adult Kings (bronzes), both wher and dragon!

-FEATURES-

- Set on Pern with most of the familiar setting features you'd expect, but with some historical and setting changes inspired largely by Dune and to a lesser degree by other sources.

HOWEVER! There is no need to have ever read Dune; this is not a crossover, merely a Pern game with additional concepts, ideas, and features derived from non-Pern sources. It would be -helpful- if a player has read both DUNE and DRAGONFLIGHT, but, honestly, you can function in Storm Nexus without having read either book -- and of the two Dragonflight is far more important to understanding the setting.

- Semi-canon caste system for dragonkind. Instead of having additional new colors, I have divorced the hide color from the concept of draconic caste altogether. This frees players to design their dragons more or less however they want.

- There is "magic," although it isn't magic in the traditional sense. There's a big emphasis on quantum physics. The science is fuzzy, but just accurate enough to be fun and to help the suspension of disbelief (in the head admin's opinion, anyway!)

- No sexuality-based Impressions. Candidate sex is almost irrelevant. (Male queenriders are limited, but exist. Female kingriders are loosely limited.) Impression is all about personality and player/character preference.

- Like running Hatchings? Players can in SN, even if they have no clutching female characters! At the same time, players who do NOT like running clutches may still play queens if they wish. There is total flexibility on this point. We want everyone to be able to enjoy the game and express themselves creatively.

- The Pern aspect of the game is inspired by the mood of Dragonflight rather than the rest of the series. Remember the reference in early Dragonflight to "tapestries depicting Pern's bloody history", and to people who were "Soldier-bred"? Yeah. This is -that- version of Pern, not the mysteriously sanitized later-series version of Pern.

- Non-dragonrider characters aren't just encouraged but NEEDED for critical site plots! Both major Holds in the PC Weyr's territory have PCs based at them, including the ruling families!

- Two additional sentient toolmaker species, both capable of Impressing to dragonkind, available as PCs in addition to normal humans!

- Unique species, Impressible and otherwise, found only in this game! Players can buy, earn, or win special tickets giving them the privilege to create a new such species, too!

- Modern Storm Nexus Pern's technology level ranges from Dark Ages to early Renaissance at very best. More variety of regional subculture and dialect than in canon Pern, so more character background variety.

- The Southern Continent is opening for exploration IC right now, and it will contain several new creatures for pets, working animals, and bondables, as well as other strange discoveries and events!

- An odd new creature, long rumored but never before proven to exist, has recently been successfully Impressed. Dubbed the basilisk, these flightless fire lizard relatives are known only from the Igen desert and the lowlands of Keroon... or so claims the one Trader caravan which knows where to get them. Are they being honest, or did the basilisks really come from the Southern Continent...? If the Traders are really sneaking down there, what else might they unwittingly bring back? And if the basilisks really did come from where the Traders say they got them, how did they get to the North, if the Traders didn't bring them?

-PLOT POINTS-

There is lot of variety in the game's major plots, ranging from the romantic and political machinations of the higher levels of leadership at Plateau Weyr to very dark and ugly sagas involving bold raider bands and acquisitive Fax-like Lord Holders to high adventure and exploration in the Southern and Far Western Continents.

In short, no matter what your taste in theme and mood, there will likely be at least one major plotline that will appeal specifically to your inclinations -- and if there's not, we're very open to player-suggested major and minor plots!

LATEST PLOT POINTS!The previous Weyrleader and his dragon are demoted and in disgrace, essentially prisoners in the Weyr they once ruled, and all because the dragon, Schoroth, couldn't resist the temptation of using firestone against his hated rivals in the Senior Queen's mating flight. For all the good it did him -- his fiery blast missed its intended target, who went on to win the Flight. Instead of flaming his hated Officer rival, Therbarth, Schoroth flamed two other Kings, one of whom was badly wounded enough to be forced out of the sky. The other, Tytureth, was also hurt, but not so badly that he couldn't turn on Schoroth and take his revenge. Schoroth survived, but mainly through luck. He is now convalescing in an isolated, heavily guarded part of the Infirmary.

The new Weyrleader is St'banard of Officer Therbarth, Qir's lover, in for his second term at the job. And does he ever have a job ahead of him. The Weyr is still agitated about Zareth's mutant offspring, Qir is organizing an expedition to the Southern Continent, and he himself has an attack on a raider camp to put together. Being Weyrleader at this time is not going to be easy...

Speaking of the raiders, Plateau Weyr has no idea that the camp they are planning to attack is already aware that the Weyr knows of its existence, and that the raiders are planning a devastating counterattack to take place while the Weyr is attacking the camp. How do the raiders have such accurate information? Is there a mole among the Weyrfolk? Or is something subtler and more sinister going on...?

And what of the Southern Continent? Huge, mysterious, never colonized by humanoids in our setting as far as anyone knows, it is chock full of mysteries waiting to be discovered!

Weyrwoman Qir and Senior Queen Seystrenth look forward to seeing your characters around Plateau Weyr...! (NOTE: If you're having trouble finding the link to the game, click the banner at the top.)

<Tall and slender, from a distance she looks like any other mare. Get a little closer, though, and you can make out the dense, well defined, compact muscle mass of somepony who is clearly overcompensating for something. She'll never be as strong, pound for pound, as an Earth Pony. But if pegasi can get themselves in good enough condition to compete with them, she sees no reason why she can't.>

<Has a cropped ear, which was torn at some point during her two week black out.>

Psychological Evaluation

Likes:

<Solar Chaser><Cherries><Pop music, the bubblier the better><Talking over other ponies><Yellow>

Dislikes:

<Being asked about her past; very private><Being alone>

Dreams:

<She will see her beloved Solar placed on his rightful throne to rule in kindness and harmony until such a time as the demon Tirek has been defeated and Equestria's true leadership restore, or so help her, she will break everypony's kneecaps trying!>

Fears:

<Being found out><Being rejected by Solar><Being hanged, very specifically. It's not a pleasant way to go. All those eyes, watching you, waiting for you. The sensation of falling. The noose... and if it doesn't break your neck...>

General Remarks:

<Bouyant and eager to please, at least where Solar is concerned, Cherry Cordial often slips into practically senseless violence with the ease of a trained warrior. Which is kind of odd, since she isn't. But hey, live long enough and anything at all becomes old hat.>

Permanent Records

Childhood:

< Niece of the famous Cherries Jubilee, biggest business owner in Dodge><Raised to be a cherry bucker, when her horn proved unable to keep up with the task of sorting><Never produced more magic than was necessary to lift a single cherry at a time>

Adolescence:

<Began drinking at an age that would be considered unhealthy anywhere more modernized than Dodge><Began fermenting cherry wines><Began distilling cherry brandies><Earned her cutie mark at fourteen for a novel knew cherry whiskey, which won over her aunt><Got her own store front under the Jubliees banner, began making alcoholic beverages in earnest, using bruised or otherwise unsellable cherries.>

Adulthood:

<Went on a drunken bender on her nineteenth birthday, and disappeared for two weeks.><Nopony knows what happened during that time><Not even her><Came back to town long enough to pack><Informed family she was "goin' 'a recuse mah colt from his own stupidity"><Marched on Canterlot, and hasn't stopped marching since.>

Retirement:

<Cherry suspects she won't live to see this noble age of relaxation>

Inventory

-One brass pocketwatch, habitually pinned up on the back of her skull, beneath the base of her ponytail.-One slip of psychic paper courtesy of the Christmas Raffle-One brass key which unlocks her storefront back in dodge, and resides clipped safe and sound in the darkest depths of her mane. It may or may not unlock other doors.-One kelp leather wallet, which usually contains her psychic paper, and is embossed with 'Command' on the inner cover.

There had been a time when a stallion could go on a walkabout for a week and no one would think twice of it. Doubly so if he were a Lord, and thus quite exempt from the humdrum business of making a living for himself. The Canterlotian treasury could be generous indeed to those it considered it's enforcers in the distant territories.

Dodge was nothing if not distant.

In this particular case, though, Swagger's absence had been duly noted. At first, his prepared trail served its purpose. He appeared to have returned for his holdings, to take stock of those he controlled and represented during this time of calamity, when might Cloudsdale and pristine Canterlot both had been the unwitting targets of dangerous- and if rumours could be trusted, extremely potent- magical projectiles.

He was perhaps not as strict with his populace as he should have been, but he was a fair enough leader. None would think twice of this.

But somepony, somewhere down the line had thought twice of it.

They had sent a courier to fetch him for an emergency assemblage of the court.

They had found an empty homestead and confused crowds who knew nothing of the meteors, aside from the fact that a few days prior, a shooting star had fallen further south. A fragment of ore that the Court, King and Guard had all been unaware of, until then.

It stank of treachery. Why go silently behind their backs on this quest, when an entire phalanx would have been provided for him to use at the merest implication that more of the meteor had been found?

But cool temperaments prevailed. Perhaps it was all a ploy. A clever gambit to gain even greater prestige. He was a lord only, and the first generation at that. Maybe he had intended to aim higher. A count? A marquess?

So they waited for him, laying rampage to the isolated little farm they found along their way. Twenty guardstallions could do quite a number on a single cottage, even one with dozens of acres of farmland attached.

Few things were broken, but it was plain enough that the farmer's crop would not be up to par. It wasn't as thought he'd miss it.

Wasn't it lucky then, that only a month prior Lord Swagger himself had annexed the farm, entitling it's owner to both taxation and, more importantly, protection from all threats, including starvation.

The colt was obviously a favorite of the Lord's, probably some whore-dammed bed warmer. Swagger's tastes had always been rather lax, no doubt a farmcolt would suit his disgustingly rural heritage. Laws of protection meant he would not be starved simply because of a failed harvest.

Of course not.

He would have to be executed, to teach the uppity newblood his place.

Swagger's eyes were not the sharpest, but he knew the glint of armor better than that of sand these days. There were ponies waiting for them.

Dangerous ones. Guardstallions who would not hesitate to batter his young charge, and perhaps even kill him. Swagger could cower safely behind his title, of course. The plans unfurled neatly and easily in his mind. Turn in the meteor, pretend it was meant to be a gift for the King. A few weeks mockery at court was nothing of concern to him. And whatever magic the meteor held, it would take some time for the royal mages to unlock.

Enough time that a theft could almost certainly be arranged, with the right information.

The only price he would pay would be to watch Solar dolaed open on his behalf.

He barely knew the colt. They'd spent a week in the desert together, but what was that, compared to the lifetime he'd spent in awe of Their Majesties, compared to the servitude he owed them still in keeping Equestria safe and whole in their absence?

He'd bitten his own tongue, drawn blood from it, trying not to think about those great, violet eyes looking upon him with infinite mercy and forgiveness to doing what had to be done in her name.

For letting a colt die for her, ignorant of his crimes.

He could not bear it.

But he could bear the weight on his soul of bucking Solar hard in the side without warning. Of setting deep, swollen bruises all across his body as he cried out in confusion, and finally gave in to unconsciousness.

The glint of armor was rapidly turning into a smudge of dust, as the noise of the scuffle drew guardly attention. Swagger was deft with his mouth and hooves, though. Decades of paperwork ensured it. He tore aside young Solar's bandages, and nearly choked on his own gasp.

He had chosen well, then, had he not?

He tucked the lump of burnt metal against the bright, golden sun, and wrapped it tightly away. It became nothing more than another grossly swollen mass on his flank.

Swagger was still stomping away, with all the passion of an actor in mid performance, all but indiscernable from reality, when the dust settled into the shape of twenty Guardponies.

The spells of the royal unicorn corps compelled him to speak the truth, but he had undergone similar such interrogations before. The truth could be a tricky thing.

He gave them what they wanted, not what they asked for.

He protected his favorite.

"I coerced him into guiding me. I needed a pegasus to carry the water, you see, and anypony will tell you he's enamoured with me. It was the easiest act I've ever played. Prattle on about family and foalhood for a few days, and then get the ore." He glared and spat and hissed in a wordless rage, let them draw their own conclusions.

"Of course, I couldn't kill him then. I still needed a guide back. But by the time we got in sight of his home..." Swagger grinned ferally, wide eyed and ears twitching here and there, almost madly.

"And why did you want the ore?"

And there it was. The question he'd been waiting for.

Solar had better be grateful for this.

"To hand it over to the rebels of course. Blueblood would have destroyed us all, and you," His eyes crawled to the enchanted window. Sky Skimmer would be there, watching, calculating. Playing the same game Swagger always had, but at a higher level still. "You'll only make it longer, harder and bloodier."

In a way, it was a relief to speak freely, even if it was only an illusionary freedom.

Right until the burning electric shock of magic coursed up through the base of his skull, and wiped him out of consciousness, by way of a menagerie of pain.

He roused to perfect consciousness, completely and utterly aware of everything around him. From the weakness of his body, no doubt unfed and uncared for for however long he had been blanked out, the the heavy breathing and shuffle of the crowd.

Sky Skimmer gave some mighty speech, full of poise and justice and the Equestrian Way.

Swagger stood, knees locked, staring at the teeming masses.

He found many patches of gold. Canterlot collected them fiercely. Jewels, armor, cloaks.

He found many wings, most folded tight against metal and keleather.

He found many blue eyes, one of the most common colors.

But he found only one look of heartbreak, of betrayal and mourning winding around eachother with such ferocity.

He smiled slowly, darkly. Everypony around that poor colt died at the hooves of the King.

Swagger was no exception.

The noose was soft, made of a silken cord half a hoof thick. Something that would be better suited to holding back curtains. He had not been born a noble, but he would die as one all the same.

It wasn't as if there was anypony else to carry on his line, after all. His title need not be revoked.

They are dangerous. Faulty. They should not exist. They are beyond comprehension.

We hold the predators of Draconia and Aeris in high regard, and they are strange.

They have magic. They can be understood are alive.

How can you call humanity dead when they create such light?

Set in the year 1006 of our Princesses, Post Emergence poses a simple question that could change the very foundations of Equestria.

Two years ago, a bizarre bubble in the fabric of reality appeared on the outskirts of Equestria, in the deep deserts past Appleoosa and Dodge counties. It acted as a lens, revealing what could only be an ocean, and yet so greay and dead. Anypony who dared set hoof through it came back dizzied and sickened by the fumes. And in a matter of hours, the ocean was replaced by great, roiling fires.

They could not cross through the barrier, thank Celestia, but they were a horrorscape of epic proportions for soft heartest ponies, a world of such toxic wretchedness that all within it had died.

And yet... they had not died at all.

For in a few weeks, as the strange lens of the barrier warped and changed its size and shape, it was revealed that strange creatures resided on the other side. As warlike as gryphons, hairless as moles, with tiny little eyes and strange, slender, fleshy claws. And they had survived for an eternity in this poisoned world.

But now? Now the crush of Equestrian Magic is killing them. Will eradicate them all.

And what good pony can stand for that? Not when magic is so prevalent, so easy to use.

Why let them die, when they can be rescued from their horrors of grey-on-grey-on-grey and giving a life of color and hope?